workout log: 16 september 2007

Activity: road cycling
Location: Berryville, VA > points in northern VA and northeastern West VA.
Distance: 101.0 miles (moderately hilly)
Duration: 4:44
Weather: sunny with a few drifting clouds and cool, 42-68 degrees
Avg HR: 140 (max 171)
Type: aerobic

PPTC “Historic Back Roads Century,” my second year doing it. I met up with a bunch of club friends, including Al, Wolfgang, TJ and Joyce, and we all departed just after 8:00 am in the cold weather. The route has a lot of rolling hills, with about 4,600 feet of climbing over the duration. The route also loops back on itself, which allowed for some doffing of arm warmers at the car.

I suffered a “zero-miles-per-hour crash” about 4 miles into the ride when my chain flew off the big chainring when I attempted to cross Route 7. My right foot flew down when the chain jumped, and I unceremoniously tipped over into a field of stone and gravel. I have an abrasion on my knee that resulted from a rock forcing a rug burn when my lycra leg warmer brushed my knee – “When Lycra Attacks!”

Fortunately, the rest of the ride was uneventful, and our group had a great time riding together. We stopped at three rest stops (miles 27, 51 and 76), and enjoyed our time off the bike, too. The first rest stop had a lovely hammer dulcimer player, and the last one had the most delicious tomato, cucumber and hummus pitas you could possibly eat.

And after the ride, Joyce showered and then set up her massage table, offering up free post-ride massages to her friends. She’s very, very good, and I felt totally fresh afterward.

We rode at a pure AA pace throughout, averaging 21.2 mph for the ride. I broke away ahead of our group in the last 4 miles after a trio of Bicycle Place cyclists, riding the metric century, attacked our group from behind. It was a fast-and-furious ride back to the high school from there. I did the 100.0 mile benchmark in 4:41:58, which is my fastest century ridden with paceline tactics. And my overall ride time of 4:44 is 26 minutes faster than last year’s version of the same ride, which shows how far I’ve come this year.

All in all, a great day of riding.